The FBI said 60 percent of the children rescued were in foster care or group homes when they ran away.

'With no way to survive on their own they are lured into a life of being trafficked for sex,' Hosko said.

Girls are enticed into the sex trade with compliments and offers of making money 'and then they are trapped in this cycle that involves drugs, it involves physical abuse, it may involve torture... so that they are tied to the pimp,' he said.

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Hosko added: 'Commonly they don't see law enforcement as their friends' but rather as a threat of arrest.

The largest numbers of children rescued were in San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans.

To identify victims of sex
trafficking, agents went undercover in major cities and posed as
men looking for sex. They also used Backpage,a website that isused to sell girls for sex.

Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, announced that the agency has rescued 105 children who were forced into prostitution in the U.S.

Crackdown: FBI agents used Backpage, a website that is used to sell girls for sex, to identify victims of prostitution during a sting earlier this year

Arrests: Over three days in July FBI agents arrested 150 suspected pimps

'YOU CANNOT EVER LET THEM TAKE YOUR HEART:' INSIDE THE TERRIFYING LIFE OF A CHILD PROSTITUTE

Alex, now 21, was a victim of child sex trafficking

Alex left home at the age of 16 and was sucked into prostitution because she couldn't afford to eat.

'At first it was terrifying, and then you just kind of become numb to it,' she told the FBI. 'I felt empty. You are at the bottom of the bottom. And you have nobody to go to... for help or for a hug. There’s nobody.'

After two years on the streets, Alex reached out to the FBI, which helped her get back on her feet and arrested the 'pimps' involved in trafficking her - Sacramento residents Tynisha Marie Hornbuckle and Tamrell Rena Hornbuckle. As a result of their crimes, Tynisha was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Tamrell was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Alex has since earned her high school diploma and she plans to attend college.

Offering her advice to other victims of child sex trafficking, she said, 'They can take everything from you; your voice, your freedom, they can take your fight and will, your everything. But you cannot ever let them take your heart; you have to always keep fighting.'

'Many
times the children that are taken in in these types of criminal
activities are children that are disaffected, they are from broken
homes, they may be on the street themselves,' FBI Acting Executive
Assistant Director Kevin Perkins said. 'They are really looking for a
meal, they are looking for shelter, they are looking for someone to take
care of them.'

Overall, 47 FBI divisions took part in the raids, dubbed 'Operation Cross Country VII,' along with more than 3,900 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers and agents representing 230 separate agencies.

Taking place over the course of three days in 76 cities, it is the largest ever enforcement action against child sex trafficking in the U.S.The suspects who were arrested will likely face both federal and state charges of trafficking.

Since 2003, the FBI has rescued more than 2,700 children from sexual exploitation, according to the agency. The previous rescue operations have resulted in the convictions of 1,350 suspects and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

'Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across the country,' Hosko said.

The Justice Department estimates that nearly 450,000 children run away from home each year, one-third of whom will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

That was the case with Alex, a woman who left home at the age of 16 and joined a prostitution ring because she couldn't afford to eat.

In a video posted to the FBI's website on Monday,
Alex, now 21, says life as a child prostitute was 'terrifying.'

Alex said she left home at the age of 16 and was sucked into the sex trade because she couldn't afford to eat

A woman is arrested in connection with 'Operation Cross County' in Atlantic County, New Jersey

Several arrests are made in connection with child sex trafficking. The Justice Department estimates that nearly 450,000 children run away from home each year, one-third of whom will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home

'At
first it was terrifying, and then you just kind of become numb to it,'
she said. 'Not like an alter ego but just like a different person, you
put on a whole different attitude - I felt empty. You are at the bottom
of the bottom. And you have nobody to go to... for help or for a hug.
There’s nobody.'

After two years of sexual exploitation, Alex contacted the FBI for help. The information that she provided helped the agency nab two pimps and rescue several other victims.

Alex has since earned her high school diploma and she plans to attend college. Without the help of the FBI, she said she 'probably would have ended up dead.'

Offering her advice to other victims of child sex trafficking, she said, 'They can take everything from you; your voice, your freedom, they can take your fight and will, your everything. But you cannot ever let them take your heart; you have to always keep fighting.'

'Bad things happen, worse things than what have happened to us, all over the world, and people seem to keep going through it and living on and living life,' she added. 'The important thing is to try and turn every negative into a positive and make something good out of it.'

An unidentified suspect is arrested for alleged involvement in a sex trafficking scheme

An undercover agent leads a victim of sex trafficking into a hotel room, before bringing in other law enforcement officers